Rebelle Rally 2023 Field Updates

Great update! Favorite picture is of all the teams bent over the tables charting and mapping! A lot more goes into this than I realized!

I'm following the competition with great interest and have personally met three of the women competing and so I have a rooting interest as well, but can I digress for a minute and admire this beautiful 2 dr Black Diamond with graphics? What a perfect updated nod to both the mid seventies Free Wheeling sunset stripes and the mid seventies Special Decor "hockey" stripes. I wonder if this is custom or can be ordered? OK, back to the race!

BD27A51

I'm following the competition with great interest and have personally met three of the women competing and so I have a rooting interest as well, but can I digress for a minute and admire this beautiful 2 dr Black Diamond with graphics? What a perfect updated nod to both the mid seventies Free Wheeling sunset stripes and the mid seventies Special Decor "hockey" stripes. I wonder if this is custom or can be ordered? OK, back to the race!

I'm glad you called that out; I think seeing the various wraps on these is another fun aspect even if the rest of the rally standings hadn't sucked someone in yet. And same, @TK1215, I love that we had access to all these pics this year; makes it that much more real what the ladies are doing out there.

DAY 5
October 18, 2023
Johnson Valley, CA

Competitors were greeted today with another marathon leg as they departed Ridgecrest on their journey South. The day started with teams departing on a long unique marathon leg that took them through Cuddeback south of Red Mountain. Heading off the pavement onto the dirt, the teams headed east toward a massive dry lakebed and their first green checkpoint of the day to get them into Johnson Valley. Once they checked in, the teams were off on an on-route enduro for back-to-back enduros which led them to hunt out-of-order checkpoints for the afternoon. At the end of the first day of this marathon leg, competitors stopped to camp after 10 hours of their start time. Teams are spread out across three different zones where they will spend the night before starting their next leg, Day 6. This second to last stage will find teams arriving at their final basecamp in Glamis and get their scores tallied from the past two days.

Laura

DAY 5
October 18, 2023
Johnson Valley, CA

Competitors were greeted today with another marathon leg as they departed Ridgecrest on their journey South. The day started with teams departing on a long unique marathon leg that took them through Cuddeback south of Red Mountain. Heading off the pavement onto the dirt, the teams headed east toward a massive dry lakebed and their first green checkpoint of the day to get them into Johnson Valley. Once they checked in, the teams were off on an on-route enduro for back-to-back enduros which led them to hunt out-of-order checkpoints for the afternoon. At the end of the first day of this marathon leg, competitors stopped to camp after 10 hours of their start time. Teams are spread out across three different zones where they will spend the night before starting their next leg, Day 6. This second to last stage will find teams arriving at their final basecamp in Glamis and get their scores tallied from the past two days.

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Man those are some spectacular photos! Did they hire @Calgecko to take photos?🤣

This is too cool. that is a Bunch of Bad@ss women there.
Good to see the Warpony Bronco in a bunch of pictures.

Any updates?

Wow there are some serious moves happening on the leader board!

Great coverage! I feel like I'm riding shotgun. And the accompanying photo essay speaks volumes. What great shots! The teams, vehicles, and scenery are all amazing. 😍

TK1215

Man those are some spectacular photos! Did they hire @Calgecko to take photos?🤣

Since I first found out about this event a few years ago, I’ve wanted to shoot it, it looks like a lot of work, but an incredible experience!

DAY 6
October 20, 2023
Imperial Dunes, CA

Competitors have finally made it to Glamis and have arrived at the final basecamp of the eighth Rebelle Rally. After their second marathon leg of the event, teams reached camp where they learned their scores from the past two days. Day 6 was a continuation of the previous day’s checkpoint hunting that kept teams in Johnson Valley for the morning before a precision enduro that was designed by Course Director, Jimmy Lewis. As a former Dakar Rally competitor, the enduro roadbooks he creates use internationally recognized symbols and notations to guide teams along their route. Once complete, teams had a long transit down to the Imperial Dunes, commonly referred to as Glamis. There were a few final points available for competitors to capture before heading into basecamp as teams prepared for their final day of competition.

At the end of the two days of scoring, the teams saw only a handful of points separating them for the stage. Ending the Day 5/Day 6 stage on top in the 4x4 class was Team #187 Limestone Legends (Lilly Macaruso/Alex Anderson) who were one of only three overall teams who scored more than 80% of the available points. Close on their heels was Team #129 4xEventures (Nena Barlow/Teralin Peterit) and Team #131 Team Velocity (Karisa Haydon/Trista Smith).

As teams head into their final day, Team #129 leads the overall standings, “both of us are tired to our souls. That's one stole that from [fellow competitor] Liz Long actually. I'm tired and in my soul, we’re wiped. Emily Miller is wiping the floor with us. And we love it, but it's it's hard.” said Barlow about their competition so far. “We had to watch our time today. We’ve had to worry about fuel, which is not something I've ever had to worry about. I've always had plenty of range but now we’ve had to watch fuel and time all day long. We're not used to chasing the clock. We usually set a pace and are ahead of schedule. In the past we've had to worry about making sure we didn't click before an opening time but today we made it to our green with one minute and 38 seconds to spare.”

For the X-Cross™ class, Team #205 Wild Grace 8.0 (Rebecca Donaghe/Sedona Blinson) confidently led their BMW X2 M35i to the top of the scoreboard for the marathon stage. Following behind them was Team #200 Built Wild (Melissa Clark/Jessica Moore) in their 2022 Bronco Sport Badlands and Honda Engineering Team #208 The Co-Pilots (Hillary Tate/Liz Long). While Clark and Moore have the overall lead going into the final day, the competitors know that the dunes can often change the luck for teams chasing the final podium.

Follow along live for Day 7 presented by Total Chaos as teams hunt for the final checkpoints in the Glamis dunes.

This is definitely not a walk in the park. Don’t let that swing set fool you!

Not to take away from the other great photos........but this ones awesome!!!!

Team 188, Laura Wanlass and Maria Guitar, have finished in 3rd place with their '22 Raptor (the 1st time a 6th Gen has reached podium).
Team 200, @Melissa Clark and Jessica Moore (Hollywood), have finished in 1st with the '22 Bronco Sport, keeping the Sport as the top vehicle for the 4th year in a row.

From this year's reports and pictures, they ran a tough course. The stories coming from the rally have me excited to hear more from Melissa's point of view!

Laura

Team 188, Laura Wanlass and Maria Guitar, have finished in 3rd place with their '22 Raptor (the 1st time a 6th Gen has reached podium).
Team 200, @Melissa Clark and Jessica Moore (Hollywood), have finished in 1st with the '22 Bronco Sport, keeping the Sport as the top vehicle for the 4th year in a row.

From this year's reports and pictures, they ran a tough course. The stories coming from the rally have me excited to hear more from Melissa's point of view!

Awesome to hear the update! Congrats to all the ladies! And a special shout out to Melissa and Jessica!

Congratulations to @Melissa Clark, et al who placed and finished. I'm sure it was challenging! Again, great details and comprehensive coverage @Laura. Bravo!

TK1215

Awesome to hear the update! Congrats to all the ladies! And a special shout out to Melissa and Jessica!

I’ll take Bronco Sport for the win please!
Well done ladies

The last day of competition summary from Rebelle!

DAY 7 Pesented by TOTAL CHAOS Fabrication
October 21, 2023
Imperial Dunes, CA

You never know what the dunes will bring and that is exactly what the final stage of the 2023 Rebelle Rally brought to the competition. Most teams know that their Day 7 will end with the Glamis sand dunes, but today’s final stage was a nail-biter for the top competitors vying for the podium. It was an extremely hot day with 100+ degree temperatures that softened the sand before the morning was even over. Many of the teams saw their vehicles getting stuck and, in a few cases, even overheating in the grueling heat.

Viewers watched the battle for the 4x4 title unfold throughout the day and in the end, the Rally saw its first ever electric vehicle at the top of the podium. Team #187 Limestone Legends (Lilly Macaruso/Alex Anderson) took their Rivian R1T to first place after a rollercoaster day of competition. Part of the Electrified Designation, this select group of competitors is powered by Renewable Innovations. They have worked with Rebelle Rally founder, Emily Miller to develop this unique program with the goal of rapid remote charging. Rounding out the podium was past champion Team #129 4xEventures (Nena Barlow/Teralin Peterit) who came in second with the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xe and Team #188 Dirt Hustle (Laura Wanlass/Maria Guitar) who finished third with the Ford Bronco Raptor.

In the X-Cross™ class, the competition was just as heated when the first-place finisher Team #200 Built Wild (Melissa Fisher/Jessica Moore) won with their 2022 Ford Bronco Sport. This is a four-peat for the Bronco Sport, giving the marque a strong foothold in the crossover class. Rounding out the podium were two brand new vehicles that showed their prowess. The BMW X2 M35i piloted by veteran competitors on Team #205 Wild Grace 8.0 (Rebecca Donaghe/Sedona Blinson) finished second with Team #206 KiAloha (Verena Mei/Susie Saxten) in the 2024 Kia Telluride X-Pro not too far behind them in third.

Teams will now reflect on the journey they have just completed and already start their preparation for 2024. Competition. Registration for the 2024 Rebelle Rally is now open. A limited number of spots will be reserved for rookie teams. Follow this link to register now.

Renewable Innovations
Competition at the Rebelle Rally is electric and not just among the teams. In 2020, Rebelle Rally founder Emily Miller created the Electrified designation for competitors, including electric, plug-in hybrid electric and hybrid vehicles. The designation has continued through to the 2023 rally which boasts twelve entries this year. There are four Rivian R1Ts, the all-new Mustang Mach-E® Rally. Toyota entered two Sequoia hybrids and a Tundra TRD Pro hybrid for 2023 and Jeep returned with its multi-year podium winner Wrangler Rubicon 4xe.

Powering the Electrified program is Renewable Innovations, which has partnered with the Rebelle Rally since the groundwork was first laid. The Rebelle Rally continues to be a progressive force in the electrified vehicle space with the Rebelle Rally Electrified program. This has only been possible with the strong partnership and expertise of the Renewable Innovations team. Renewable Innovations is the industry leader in the development and deployment of hydrogen-powered, zero-carbon sustainable energy solutions. In addition to powering the electric vehicles competing in the Rally, Renewable Innovations will once again be powering all of the Rebelle basecamps, essentially our “Cities in the Desert”. While many may think this sounds standard or simple to accomplish, it is not! “Many promised solutions but only one could deliver,” noted rally founder Miller.